Book marginalia

As promised, an assortment of recent material dealing with books and reading:

• Given that the first event was last night, I have been remiss in not mentioning that the South Dakota Festival of Books is going on this weekend in the Black Hills.
• Micawbers Books in St. Paul, “the last indie bookstore in the Twin Cities not owned by a millionaire best-selling author,” is the subject of the latest indie bookstore review at Maud Newton. My reading soul aches when I see the reference to the now long-defunct Odegaard’s, for years my favorite bookstore. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t think I’ve ever been to Micawbers, something that will definitely change on my next trip to the Cities.
• Speaking of reading in a way that brings back good memories, Rolling Stone gives us Gonzo for Beginners, a reading guide to gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. HST is on the cover of the latest issue of the magazine.
• Speaking of reading in a way that makes me want to vomit, next week’s NYT Book Review bestseller list will show O.J. Simpson’s book outselling Bill Clinton’s book. Given that Clinton’s book focuses on giving back and to the community and is subtitled “How Each of Us Can Change the World,” we ought to be ashamed. (Via.)
• I wonder if it is simply coincidence that Eric Clapton’s autobiography is being released just six weeks after the autobiography of his (and George Harrison’s) ex-wife, Pattie Boyd? The latter is still in the TBR stacks so I don’t know what she said about EC but I have little doubt EC’s book will be a bigger priority in the TBR list if I haven’t read Boyd’s by then, especially since my wife didn’t sound overly impressed with the latter.
• The Library of America plans to release a second volume of the works of Philip K. Dick. This one will include five novels: Martian Time-Slip; Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb; Now Wait For Last Year; Flow My Tears The Policeman Said; and, A Scanner Darkly.

Carolyn Wells, The Rest of My Life